External Links

(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.)

Fredericton police were called today to a local bridal boutique to deal with a crowd of upset customers.

Sparkle Bridal Boutique shut its doors Tuesday and posted a sign in the window, apologizing for any inconvenience.

Fredericton police were called to the Sparkle Bridal Boutique on Thursday to deal with a crowd of upset customers. The boutique closed Tuesday. (CBC)

Two days later, several brides and bridesmaids lined up outside the store at 88 York St. to find out about their gown orders.

Melissa Rogers ordered a wedding dress in July for her August nuptials. It was scheduled to arrive in December, but she still doesn't have it.

"We're out about $2,000 for a dress and we're not sure if we're going to be able to receive the dress or have our money back," said Rogers. "As of right now, I have no dress and the wedding is less than three months away.

"I have no idea where I can purchase a dress, who is going to let me buy off the rack or what I'm going to do," she said. "I'm at wit's end.

"Some weddings are coming up quickly and we're all at wit's end. We have no idea what to do."

Const. David Beck of the Fredericton Police Force went into the boutique, spoke to its owners, and came outside to tell the group the boutique is going out of business.

The boutique owners were contacting the vendors who were to provide them with the ordered dresses, to give them the contact information of the customers, said Beck.

"They feel absolutely horrible about the situation they're in," he said. "They were back there in tears because they understand the situation you guys have been put in and they are desperately, desperately trying hard with the vendors right now to make sure you guys are taken care of.

"That's the best they can do at this point in time," said Beck.

An officer who was speaking to a woman inside the shop told the crowd the boutique is going out of business and that it is not a police matter.

Some brides have been complaining about the boutique in recent weeks through social media.

On April 26, Natalie Phillips posted on Facebook the top 10 reasons she "hates" Sparkle Bridal Boutique and "why they should not be in business."

Phillips says the boutique almost ruined her wedding.

A week before the big day, five of her bridesmaids still didn't have their dresses, Phillips wrote in the post, which has received nearly 200 shares to date.

"You assume that by ordering your dresses five to six months in advance, when you're told they'd take three to four months max, that you're in the clear! Wrong," she wrote.

Brides gathered outside the Sparkle Bridal Boutique in Fredericton, demanding to know what has happened with their orders after the store said it had closed its doors. (CBC)

Phillips said she tried to contact the shop by phone, email and Facebook for weeks, and when she finally heard from the owner, she got "excuse after excuse."

"You never once said you were sorry. You never took any kind of ownership for [almost] ruining my special day," she wrote.

Her bridesmaids eventually demanded their money back and found dresses at a different store instead, according to the post.